Monday, December 10, 2012

Happy Holidays

So this blog has been a bit neglected. I had great hopes for it at the beginning of the year, but I have not tended to it as I should have. Perhaps some of my students could say the same about their academics. . .but I digress. One of my New Years Resolutions is to be more active here. Hopefully, this will result in more traffic and a bit more back and forth discussion. I am again turning to TED for this post. I was blown away by how revolutionary a simple redesign of a product could be. Watch the video to see how making some simple, yet vital changes to a wheelchair changes the lives of so many.

http://www.ted.com/talks/amos_winter_the_cheap_all_terrain_wheelchair.html

This reminds me of something my older brother was fond of saying. "All engineering should be directed towards pampering the end user as much as possible." Yes, he was a bit of a snob when it came to the products he purchased and rarely settled for second best in anything. However, I think that drive in him made him an awesome engineer and moved him to only produce his best and expect that from those around him. I ask you to think about the items you rely on every day. Do you think they were designed with you in mind? If not, what drove the design process? Are there any that could be better engineered for the end user (you)?